Welcome to the Oligarchy!
I don’t want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub.
Grover Norquist
While we still pretend to be a democracy, and act as though Capitalism is our national religion, the United States is becoming a true oligarchy. In an oligarchy a small group holds most of the wealth and power and its members are the true decision makers.
In Washington, the mantra of the right is “cut spending.” Again and again, people point out that these cuts must come from Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the military, but only the latter provides any cause for pause. No one seems concerned that the rest of the cuts are at the expense of the poor and elderly. This is balanced by a steadfast refusal to increase taxes on the rich. The fact that they can keep a straight face while they make the argument for balancing the budget by the sacrifice of only the poor tells you how far we have come.
 The oligarchy controls Fox News and, therefore, the most effective propaganda machine in history. The truth is completely relative, and the oligarchy’s message is broadcast 24/7. Fox News never reports that:
- While you and I pay income tax, corporations like Verizon do not. Read MORE here and Sign Petition.
- While unemployment remains cripplingly high, corporations are making record profits and stockpiling trillions of dollars that could be spent to hire the jobless. You would swear they are deliberately trying to keep unemployment high until after the 2012 election. Is it possible that our corporate oligarchs are determined to keep in power those who faithfully serve them and perhaps elect one of their own as president? Perhaps they are looking for another who is willing to blow a hole in the bottom of the economic boat by again cutting taxes for the rich.
- For eight years, Washington cut taxes, increased spending, launched unfunded wars, and abandoned financial integrity and regulation. The crash of the economy has brought no repentance but, rather, is seen as an opportunity to complete the oligarchy’s takeover. The deficit, which didn’t matter before, now is the obsession to “starve the beast” of government services and to permanently ban the oligarchs from paying taxes.
The concentration of wealth in the hands of .01 percent of the population exceeds all other times in human history. It is unfair at best, but when that .01 percent buys a government and uses its political power to keep 10 percent of the population unemployed, and another 35 percent under-employed, it becomes utterly immoral. Unions must be destroyed so those jobs can be paid minimum-wage, not a livable wage, thus increasing the profit margins and political donations of the oligarchy.
The United States imprisons a higher percentage of its citizens than any other country on earth. Beyond the fact that prison has become a for-profit business, someone has an investment in keeping those most likely to rebel against the oligarchy isolated from society.
Years ago, I actually had a conversation with one of our oligarchs. This was a billionaire whose name everyone would know. I was trying to raise money for a program that would support better public education for the poorest children in the city. These were kids for whom the church provided basic care like uniforms, school supplies, and vaccines. My oligarch “friend,” however, was simply not interested. He explained to me that he was an “Economic Darwinian” who believed that only the economically fittest should survive. He had no interest in educating the poor because they would only reproduce more poor. “Their role in our society doesn’t require that they be better educated.” He then pointed around the room to the people of color who were serving the meal.
 Health care in America is a commodity to be bought, not a civil right to be enjoyed by all. The oligarchs become richer and richer from this system, and the poor die early. The middle class spends more and more of their basic resources just to pay high premiums and deductibles, or their employer substitutes increased premiums for wage increases. The elderly and poor are about to have their services cut. It is almost as if the oligarchs all are Economic Darwinians who think that those who are a “drain” on society should just go ahead and die so there would be more wealth for them to accumulate.
Thanks to Fox News, there is no danger that the poor and middle class will rise up and demand universal health care. In fact, it appears that we have been conditioned to oppose all policies that are in our own best interest. There is very little American resentment among the poor and middle class about how the wealthy live, and their refusal to pay their share of taxes. In fact, the white middle- and lower-classes (especially in the South) have become reliable partners for the political ambitions of the oligarchy. It is such a religious devotion that you would think that Jesus himself was an American oligarch - except that he was born in a barn, executed by the state, buried in a borrowed grave, and seemed to care an awful lot about those he called the least, of which he was one.
Blessings,
Michael Piazza
President, Hope for Peace & Justice |
